The horse named Misty was uninjured after a fall into the trench but had to lifted with the aid of a LA County Fire helicopter.

The hours long rescue began after the horse strayed from nearby ranch property near Clybourne Avenue according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Officials told the paper they were unclear how the horse ended up in the trench which was constructed with cinder blocks and iron bars.

Los Angeles Animal Services said in a Facebook post Tuesday they were in Shadow Hills helping Misty at the time of the incident. They were called in soon after the horse was found in the trench. “Our SMART team has been giving her water and food as they await the air rescue on its way,” they posted on Facebook along with pictures of Misty.

Officials were concerned the noise that would be created while trying to dig the horse out could be detrimental to the horse so fire and animal rescue officials both determined that an air rescue was the safest.

“We’ve talked about digging a trench to walk the horse out, but she isn’t doing very well with people,” said Officer Armando Navarette, an official with the animal rescue team.

The horse was given a sedative then hoisted into the air. Misty was set down nearby to walk off the medication that was used to calm her down.